L14. Electronic Voting

Transcription

1 L14. Electronic Voting Alice E. Fischer October 28, 2014 Voting... 1/14

2 What is all the fuss about? Voting Systems Public Voting is Different On-Site and Off-site Voting Voting... 2/14

3 What is all the fuss about? Voting Systems The Appeal of Electronic Voting Secure Transactions Voting is Different Voting... 3/14

4 Voting Systems Goals of a Voting System: Integrity Allow registered citizens to vote and block all others. Record the participation of each voter to avoid repeat-voting Allow for absentee ballots. Record (anonymously) and count the votes of each voter. Be able to recount the votes, if necessary. Ensure that the process for counting and recounting votes is honest. Decide the result of an election and certify that result in a timely manner. Voting... 4/14

5 Voting Systems Goals of a Voting System: Privacy Ensure that people can vote without coercion, bribes, or threats. Ensure that it is impossible to determine who voted for what. Permit handicapped voters to vote without assistance wherever possible. Voting... 5/14

6 Public Voting is Different Voting and Polling today We use remote voting all the time: Organizations elect directors (mail, online) We referee papers for professional conferences (online) Public opinion polls (online, telephone). Reality shows rely on voting (online, telephone). Telephone voting requires hiring middle-people to ask questions and enter the results into the computer. Counting online votes is quick and cheap, but needs a website and a high-volume system. Voting... 6/14

7 Public Voting is Different What is special about public voting? Voting procedures and rules are part of the laws of our land. Each voter need the confidence that his votes are recorded honestly and accurately. However, the vote must be anonymous. The voter s name and his vote must not be associated anywhere in storage. We need to be able to audit an election and do a recount, while retaining anonymity. The consequences of a stolen vote could be disastrous. Voting... 7/14

8 Public Voting is Different Voting Procedures in Connecticut Citizens register to vote prior to polling day. Their names and addresses are listed in a big book. Poll workers are chosen from both major parties and are at every polling place. Voters arrive at the polls with appropriate ID. Each voter gives his name. The poll workers look at his ID card and verify his identity, then look up the name in the big book and cross it off, in clear view of everyone. The voter takes a paper ballot to a private place to mark it. The marked ballot is inserted into a counting-machine, counted, and then falls into a basket. Ballots are kept in a secure place in case a recount is needed. Voting... 8/14

9 Public Voting is Different Other Kinds of Voting Machines These machines have internal vote counters. Connecticut used to use big, heavy mechanical voting machines. Some states use big, heavy electronic voting machines. There are also small electronic voting machines that present one part of the ballot at a time. The machine is opened after the election, with both parties present, and the votes are read out and recorded. Voting... 9/14

10 III. On-Site and Off-site Voting On-site voting machines and procedures Voting from a remote location Voting... 10/14

11 Paper ballots aren t perfect either Look at Florida (2000) and Ohio (2004) Political bosses have been stuffing ballot boxes for as long as anyone can remember. Hand-counting ballots is very expensive. Absentee ballots are a nuisance and make it hard for many people to vote. Often they are not counted at all. The real challenge is getting everyone who is eligible registered to vote. Are elections just a form of theater? An exercise in futility? A fantasy or a fraud? Is voter apathy a logical reaction to reality? Are they all crooks? So... why the fuss about using electronics? Voting... 11/14

12 Paper Ballots are not Perfect Using paper ballots + scanners makes it possible to do a recount. However, they are not enough to prevent fraud and other kinds of trouble. Too few paper ballots equals trouble (Bridgeport, 2010) A scanner can still break down, delaying everything. In some states, the vote-counting chip on the scanner is relayed to a central location by internet. There are known problems with concurrency. The scanners still run on proprietary software that the public cannot see and verify, although there is, currently, an open-code project to produce scanning software. Voting... 12/14

13 What are the issues with on-site electronic voting? Ability to do a meaningful recount. Anonymity of the ballot + ability to verify honest vote counting. (Ameliorated by a paper trail) How can we trust the software? (Trade secrecy vs. public power) How can we trust the hardware? (There are known exploits.) Voting... 13/14